


Four Morons and Renjun: a Collection of Dumb Conversations Dream Had at Sea

by joker0705



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Amnesia, Attempt at Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, Dialogue Heavy, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Neurodiversity, Polyamory, basically dream really wanna be pirates, but most of these are like really lowkey, kinda its only 1 scene bc angst makes me sad, thats it, thats the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joker0705/pseuds/joker0705
Summary: A rag-tag group of young men sail the Mediterranean, slightly sunburnt and wholly unprepared for the open ocean. There’s not even anybody at the wheel right now. Two of the crew are playing snap, one is asleep, and the other’s too busy pretending he’s Jack Sparrow to even think about what direction the boat’s facing.One day, self-proclaimed 'captain' Jaemin sees something on a distant atoll. He focuses his binoculars, and by god-"Oh fuck. Everyone? There's a guy on that island."Turns out life at sea is kinda hard when you try and divide two brain cells between five people.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	Four Morons and Renjun: a Collection of Dumb Conversations Dream Had at Sea

**Author's Note:**

> is this well-written? no <3 but did i have fun doing it? absolutely!

The sun is warm and shining on this salty day at sea. A large boat, a ship perhaps, rolls along with the rhythmic waves of the mediterranean. A rag-tag group of four young men are sailing, slightly sunburnt and wholly unprepared for the open ocean. There’s not even anybody at the wheel right now. Two of the crew are playing snap, one is asleep, and the other’s too busy pretending he’s Jack Sparrow to even think about what direction the boat’s facing. Said boy is currently hanging off the rigging ropes and gazing wistfully through his binoculars, wind lightly rustling his pink hair. Of course, placed firmly on his head is a pirate hat, complete with a skull and crossbones, because - in his own words - what’s a ship with no captain?

He spies land! A small atoll, with beautiful olive trees. There’s probably enough dry wood there to make a fire, the ‘captain’ thinks to himself. They brought marshmallows for a reason, damn it. He takes the binoculars away from his eyes and shouts, “Chenle, Jisung! Help me lower the anchor.”

The two boys playing snap sigh and put down their cards, seemingly interrupted from an intense match. But like any good crew, dutifully they get to their job and the blackbeard-wannabe goes back to aesthetically gazing. However, he sees a _thing_ on the island, some sort of indiscernible lump. Intrigued, he focuses his binoculars, and by god-

“Oh fuck. Everyone? There’s a guy on that island.”

________________________

“Yo, he looks _wasted._ ”

“Jisung, we’re at sea. He's probably just dead.”

“Chenle! What if he’s actually..?”

“Fine, someone get me a stick so I can poke him.”

“Guys, be quiet! He’s waking up”

Renjun blinks his eyes open at the noise, slowly coming back to consciousness. Leaning over him, there’s quite possibly the prettiest person he’s ever seen. With eyes that glisten like the sun and soft pink hair, he-

“You look like shit, bro." The boy says. “You good there?”

Forcibly ripped from his pleasant thoughts, Renjun weakly attempts to sit up. All he can see around him is the ocean, and a boat. He’s left with no recollection of how the ever-loving fuck he got here. How curious. However, his head hurts too much to even begin thinking about that, and anyway, there appears to be more than one person. In fact, four pairs of eyes stare at him, awkwardly silent until one boy with black hair asks, "Are you like, okay? You’re probably really dehydrated.”

He’s soft-spoken, and _cute_ , he thinks. “Come onto the boat, we’ll fix you right up! It’s just the four of us, don’t worry,” pipes a smaller boy who’s holding hands with another, taller person who’s still blinking owlishly at Renjun. Considering he’s in the middle of the ocean right now and his throat is indeed parched, he doesn’t have much choice and agrees to let the strangers help him.

_________________________

The boys help Renjun onto the boat and sit him down at a table on the deck, a game of cards long-abandoned. The tall boy, who seems a little more relaxed now that he knows he hasn’t just come across a corpse, hands him a glass of water; he's thankful.

"Drink. You’ll feel better." The guy with the hat nods to him and pulls up a chair.

“I'll make you something to eat, too,” The black-haired boy says with a sweet smile. “You’ve gotta be hungry." He taps the two other boys’ shoulders and they follow him into the cabin, hopefully just to make food and not plot his murder.

Renjun casts aside thoughts of his own demise and instead brings the glass of water, crystal clear, to his mouth and drinks like he’s never drank before. Not quite realising how thirsty he actually was, he downs the whole thing in one. It’s refreshing, to say the least.

So, the deal. The sitch, if you will. He remembers nothing except waking up to four strangers asking if he’s alright. _Who the hell are they, anyway?_ He asks himself, a little more sound of mind now. _Well, there’s the guy with the hat- wait, why the hell does he have a pirate hat? What is he, ten years old? To be fair, none of them look much over twenty_ \- which makes him wonder even further: for what ungodly reason do these guys have an entire ship to themselves?! And now he’s putting his life in their hands, when they could easily poison him, stab him, or drown him. “What the fuck?” he whispers out loud.

The aforementioned hat-wearing boy giggles.

Renjun turns his head, snapped out of his thoughts. “...Who are you guys anyway?”

Completely deadpan, and unfortunately without even a hint of sarcasm, the boy boasts, "Well, I'm Jaemin, leader of this pirate crew-”

"Wait,” in half-disbelief, half-humour, he scoffs. "Pirate crew? That’s hilarious, man.”

"Shut the fuck up, we’re pirates!”

Okay, all thoughts about his potential murder have gone right out the window. There’s no way these guys are capable enough to kill anyone. Between his fits of laughter, he manages to get out, "Bro, you’re barely sailors. Where’s your Jolly Roger, sailor boy?”

He pauses. “We’re working on it,” he finally admits.

"Moron.”

Jaemin’s lips form a pout as Renjun cackles. "You’re the moron. I’ll throw you off the side of this boat."

Cutting their teasing argument short, the three others return with food for them all: a welcome sight. As they sit down and dig in, the black-haired boy introduces himself as ‘Jeno’, and tall and small as ‘Jisung’ and ‘Chenle’, respectively.

“I'm Renjun. Thanks for helping me." He means it. As light-hearted as they seem, the guys saved his life and he’s grateful.

Jaemin responds, having stopped sulking at the sight of a warm meal. "No problem Renjeon, it’s nice to-”

With a cold glare, he silences him. "It’s _Renjun_.”

"Yeah, that’s what I said?”

"No, you said _Renjeon_!”

Chenle starts giggling and Jaemin pauses, confused. "Guys, he’s just Chinese. Right?”

"Hell yeah, man! You too?” The excited pair switch to Mandarin, and the rest of the group bemusedly finish their meals (courtesy of Jeno). It’s good to know they’re going to get on well anyhow.

_________________________

They tell him their location - Jeno says about 100 miles off the coast of Greece - and that he’s welcome to stay aboard for as long as he likes, which he’s grateful for. _These people are kind of okay,_ he thinks to himself. No longer is he scared that he’s going to be murdered, but he’s a little concerned that he can’t remember anything about what he was doing at all. It could be worse, he supposes.

Shaking himself out of his head, he notices a bit of a lull in the conversation. "So, what do you guys do on-board?” Immediately, Chenle shouts, "We drink rum!” and Jisung goes in for a hi-five, clearly agreeing.

Renjun internally facepalms and asks, "Aren’t you two like twelve?” to which Chenle makes a very offended noise, and Jisung shakes his head, scandalised.

“I've known them both since they were,” Jaemin smiles mischievously, "And they haven't changed a bit.”

“I will have you know, I'm going to be seventeen in a month," says a standoffish Jisung.

"Ah, but you’ll always be my baby.” Jaemin goes in for a bone-crushing hug and instantly Jisung starts squirming, making noises not dissimilar to a distressed cat. Chenle shuffles his chair closer to Renjun and smirks, "You see, Jaemin likes to think he raised Jisung and me. However, he only takes the credit, it’s Jeno who’s the real responsible one here."

Oh yeah, Jeno. Where did he get to? He doesn’t really know much about Jeno yet, but he’d like to get to know him. _And it’s not just because he’s cute,_ Renjun reasons to himself. _Genuinely, he seemed really nice... But he is cute too._

"He’s inside.” Chenle supplies him, with a high-pitched laugh that sounds fairly reminiscent of a dolphin. "And don’t let him hear you call him cute, either. He’d hate it."

 _Oh dear, had he been speaking aloud?_ Renjun flushes slightly - though he’d say it was just the hot breeze. He needs to thank Jeno for the meal anyway, so he simply nods and makes his way to the cabin doors. Looking back, he hears fierce shouts of “Unhand me, you fiend!” and sees Jaemin finally untangling his lattice of limbs from a very disgruntled Jisung, Chenle laughing loudly all the while.

They really are close. He wonders what they’re actually doing out at sea, especially after he learnt that Jisung is only sixteen. Shouldn’t he be going to school? And how the hell do they support themselves out here, all alone? _Well, they seem to be doing just fine,_ he supposes. To each their own and all that. They’ve been nothing if not respectful of him so far, the least he can do is reciprocate.

Jeno is humming to himself, standing in front of the basin washing dishes as he comes in. He notices and turns, a kind smile on his face that reaches his eyes. Renjun grabs a cloth, and goes to dry the plates placed in the rack next to the sink, but Jeno stops him with a gentle hand on his. "Hey, you don’t need to help. I’ve got it, darling."

 _Fuck, he’s holding my hand. And darling?_ "No, I'd feel bad otherwise," he responds before his brain finally short-circuits. _Oh dear lord, why does him saying that feel the way it does?_ Jeno shrugs and he starts drying again.

"Thanks for the meal, it was delicious.”

"Oh thank god, I was dreadfully worried you wouldn’t like it.”

"Where’d you learn to cook?”

"Ah, just stuff I've picked up from Jaemin over the years, he’s way better at it than me,” Jeno says dismissively as he scrubs.

"Really? You should convince him to cook one night.”

"No chance,” Jeno snorts, "Jaemin’s lazy and likes to be treated like a princess." He mutters something under his breath too, but the only word Renjun can make out is ‘hat’. Odd. "Anyway, I’m glad to see you fit right in here, Chenle and Jisung must be happy to have someone their age.”

"Are you fucking joking me? I’m 23!”

At that, Jeno bursts into a fit of laughter, slapping a wet hand onto Renjun’s back. “I am _so_ sorry,” he tries, but the offended expression doesn’t lift from his face. He’s _very_ aware of the fact that his petite height makes him look young, thank you very much. “To be fair, you look way younger than that.”

"Anyway.” Renjun pointedly tries to move the conversation on and Jeno snickers, eyes creasing into charming crescents. They finish off the last of the plates and Renjun yawns. "Hm, are you tired, honey?” _God, there he goes again. Is that like, just a thing he does? Oh, he asked a question._ In response, he nods his head - he’s had a rather eventful day, now that he thinks about it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get some rest.

“I'm sure Jaemin has some spare bedsheets kicking about somewhere, but for tonight you can just have my bed.”

"Are you sure?” he really doesn’t want to be a burden. "Where will you sleep then?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, I’ll just be in Jaemin’s room.” He points to a door on the left-hand side of the cabin. “That’s my room right next to it, so you can sleep there for the night. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything, no matter what time.”

 _God, he’s being so sweet,_ he swoons a little. And Jeno seems to have his head screwed on properly at least, which is more than he could say about some of the crew members - a certain pink-haired boy enters his mind. He gets the impression that he’s a lot wiser than his years suggest, even if Renjun is older than him.

"Thank you, I think I'll call it a day then. Tell the others goodnight for me?”

"Sure. Oh, I'm just going to warn you ahead of time. We’ll be setting back off tonight, so I hope you don’t get seasick.”

“I'll be fine, don’t worry about me.” Renjun has _never_ gotten seasick in his whole life. In fact, he’d say he had quite the pair of sealegs. He's been on boats before, he knows how it works.

Jeno’s room is quite indicative of his personality, he thinks. Everything’s reasonably neat, from the bedsheets to the well-organised desk. Still, it’s obviously been lived in: it’s decorated with various trinkets and pictures of what he assumes are Jeno’s friends. Considering all the mementos, he figures the boys must have been sailing for quite some time. Being an inquisitive and curious soul - as Renjun would put it, dodging the fact that he’s just nosy - he takes a closer look at the pictures. He recognises some of them as his four newly made acquaintances, but there’s a _lot_ of people in the photos. Either Jeno has a great friend group, or an odd surplus of similarly aged cousins. No matter which, good for him.

_________________

Renjun wakes up with an absolutely awful stomachache, the poor fool. At a rather high risk of spewing his meal from last night all over Jeno’s bedsheets (which would be a shame, they do smell rather nice), he decides to make his way onto the deck. Each step a little wobbly, he opens the door to find the ‘crew’ dotted about. Jeno and Jaemin are sitting by the wheel, the latter animatedly gesturing about something or other. The former gives him a little wave, then quickly diverts his eyes back to his partner when he’s impatiently tapped - clearly they’re discussing something important. The other two, Chenle and Jisung, appear to be manifesting praying mantises and duelling? He doesn’t have the mental capacity to deal with whatever bullshit is going on with those two right now, so Renjun just pulls a chair over to the side of the boat and sits, willing his stomach to chill the fuck out.

He couldn’t even liken the churning of his intestines to the sea, with its elegant lull. No, he feels like a washing machine. An old, ragged washing machine trying its damned best to stay upright. And struggling, evident by his clutching onto the side of the boat like it’s the only thing tying him to the physical realm. While astral projection does seem attractive right now, he decides to just listen. Jaemin’s still gesticulating like a madman, so it’s probably best to have some idea of what’s going on in his head at least.

"No, Jen. You don’t understand! My mental health is directly proportional to the amount of toasted marshmallows in my body at any moment in time."

 _Are they really bickering about toasted marshmallows?_ Renjun honestly wishes he could say he was surprised. He's not sure if Jaemin is actually capable of talking seriously, but he’s slightly relieved there’s no actual problem. Well, in the real world. Jaemin is pouting pretty spectacularly, rather disgruntled at the lack of marshmallows currently in him.

“Nana, I get that you’re sad we forgot to do it, but we were kinda busy at the time?”

Ah yes, Jeno. The voice of reason in all this madness. Looking a bit like a mother placating a child, he pats him on the back.

“Renjun wouldn’t have minded...”

"He was half-dying!”

"After we fed him he was fine, I don’t know what your problem is."

A loud squawk comes from his right and he sees Chenle fall to the floor, feigning death very dramatically, and a smug-looking Jisung still poised like a mantis over him. He must have won their weird duel. Jisung looks over in his direction and proclaims, “Renjun, did you see that? I fucking decimated him!”

From across the deck, Jeno gasps, scandalised. "Language!” he exclaims. Jaemin stops his rant to put his hands on his hips and shake his head disapprovingly, the ‘we raised you better than that’ left unspoken. Jisung just glares at the babying.

As much as he’d like to join the conversation, his intestines feel like they’re about to make a break for greener pastures, i.e. the open ocean, any minute now. He lays his head on the side of the boat, just in case. Chenle hops up from the floor, finally finished ‘dying’ and sees Renjun in his sorry state.

"Are you alright? You look really pale."

He drags his eyes up. "I feel fucking awful.”

Jeno snickers, “I thought you didn’t get seasick?”

Not dignifying that with a verbal response, Renjun just sticks his middle finger up at him. Jaemin starts grinning and joins in with the taunting, "Aye me hearties!” he says in a truly dreadful attempt at a west country accent, "Ya gots ta get yer sea legs if ye want to be pirates like us."

 _Of course, his pirate fetish._ The hat is still on Jaemin's head, by the way. Oh dear lord, he didn’t even notice. _When did I start to accept that as normal? These people are a bad influence. And now Min’s doing a fucking accent. Straight up, I’m going to commit a homicide if I don’t get off this boat within the next 5 minutes._

Jaemin, clearly enjoying this persona of his, leaps from his sitting position to proudly place a hand on his heart and exclaim, "Nary a crewhand o’ mine’ll be caught by no illnesses - not scurvy nor seasickness.” Renjun rolls his eyes, but Chenle and Jisung start cackling. "Not while I'm the captain of S.S Dream!”

 _Are you kidding me? That's what they named the boat?_ "C’mon Jeno, tell him.” Jeno seems adequately equipped to deal with Jaemin’s erratic behaviour, so hopefully he’ll prevent Renjun from having to commit a murder. He soon realises that what he _actually_ means by that is, they look real good together and he's more than a little jealous.

Jeno merely smiles at him, in the way he does where his eyes crease up all prettily, and says, "Arghh, ye lily-livered landlubber. He’s right ya know,” _Not you too, Jeno.. This is a betrayal! Oh no, I thought he was the normal one, the one with the brain cells. But of course, I was mistaken. I’m alone with_ these people, _in the literal middle of the ocean. Dear lord._

"But like,” Jisung says in a (thank god) normal tone of voice, "You look real sick. It’s probably best if we stop,” to the agreement of all the crew members.

"Yo, does that mean I get to toast marshmallows?” an excited Jaemin asks.

Jeno sighs, but ultimately complies with his request. "Yes, let’s stop at the next island." The boy in the pirate hat claps to himself, clearly satisfied with that.

The sick boy lets out a sigh of relief at that. "Thanks, I'd really appreciate it,” to which he receives a wink and a thumbs up from Jaemin and Jeno respectively, and some sort of gang sign from Jisung.

Holding up a hand to get his friends’ attention, the captain calls out for them to get to work. Expecting something, they all look at Jeno, who grins and takes a deep breath-

“Yo Dream!” Jeno shouts, at a volume Renjun didn’t know he was capable of. But he’s _really_ taken aback by the cult-like movements and chanting that then comes from the four of them, before they scamper off to their various stations. _This is going to be a long journey.._.

____________________

Soon enough, they found a little island to camp up on until Renjun’s sickness faded. Slight thanks to Jaemin and his binoculars - "Spyglass! Call it its proper name,” as the captain himself chided when Renjun brought it up - but mostly thanks to Chenle, who was actually steering at the time.

As much as Jaemin acts childishly, he did sit by his side the whole time, making sure he was okay. Their conversation was complete with both light teasing and genuine concern about his well-being, in equal amounts. However, Min’s sudden gentleness wasn’t too much of a culture shock: he was the first one off the boat with his slightly squished packet of marshmallows in hand, yelling "Land ahoy!” and getting his trousers _very_ wet.

"I bought these marshmallows, they are gonna get fuckin’ toasted bro!” he shouts from the island, rest of the crew still on the boat. _Quiet for all of ten minutes, huh._ Clearly on board with Jaemin’s plan, Jisung follows suit and disembarks. Jeno just fondly rolls his eyes as he and Chenle offer a hand to Renjun, who’s looking a little less pale knowing that they won’t be moving for a while. Hopefully long enough for his stomach to settle down, at least.

They get off the boat and the pink-haired boy is already frantically foraging amongst the trees, not looking all too dissimilar from a caveman with his armful of branches. Jeno, the only crew member entrusted to use the survival knife, is off sharpening sticks for each of them. And for good reason too, he had to pointedly explain that they were " _Not_ to stab each other with. I’m looking at you, Chenle,” when he handed the first one out. Said boy looked like he was about to start a fencing match with the way he was holding the stick, so kudos to Jeno for preventing that injury.

It's a little later into the day now, and Renjun's feeling a lot better. He's currently in a rather heated match of four-way snap when Jaemin returns, carrying a bundle of twigs that reach higher than his hat, which he promptly drops onto the sand. It's a pretty warm day and he blinks more than a few times at the boy’s rolled-up sleeves and sweaty forehead. “It's fire time baby!” Min exclaims to no-one in particular, and kneels at the side of his pile, reaching his hand into the center. Next to Renjun, Jisung slams a card down with a smirk on his face, grabbing his attention. Damn, he just won the match.

"Hand me two of your marshmallows, peasants.” Jisung smugly exclaims. The other three sigh, muttering about ‘respect for your elders’, but hand the gambled delicacies to him. "I do believe it’s time, lads." He points to the newly lit fire.

 _Wait, that was quick,_ Renjun thinks. _Doesn’t lighting a fire take ages?_ However, he doesn’t care enough to ask; he’s rather excited now.

____________________

Jeno and Jisung each have marshmallows on the end of their sticks, turning and toasting them at the top of the wispy flames. The younger of the two closes his eyes, and the grip on his stick loosens, like he’s about to drop it. Luckily, Jeno notices and grabs it with his free hand. He nudges Jisung with his leg, and he reopens his eyes and shakes his head, a little disoriented.

“Sungie, did you see something?”

"Well,” he places two fingers on each temple and scrunches his eyes closed, like he’s concentrating hard. "The fortune you seek is in another cookie.”

"Dumbass, I was being serious.” Jeno says, laughing slightly. "What did you actually see?”

"Fuck, I don’t know, man. Something about fish.”

"Fish?”

"Yeah, nothing good, don’t worry. It’s a little frustrating at times, to be honest. I see all the amazing things you guys do with your powers and then there’s just me... Mine are kinda useless.”

"It’s okay bro, when I was your age-”

Jisung smiles cheekily as he interrupts, "Yeah, we get it, you’re as old as the hills.”

"Shut up, I was being genuine! Anyway, the only thing I could do was spill glasses of water at the most inopportune moments. God, just ask Taeyong when we next see him." He hesitates a second. "Actually, don’t. He probably has PTSD.”

It makes him giggle a little. "I can imagine. Thanks, I mean it.”

"No problem Sungie, we all love you."

He scratches the back of his neck a little awkwardly.

"Just be glad Jaemin’s not having this conversation with you, okay? At least I'm not physically touching you.”

"I respect that, man."

There’s a bit of a pause, the two not used to actually verbalising their care for each other.

"Oh, your marshmallow, I got kinda lost in thought.” Jeno says.

"There’s only one thing preventing me from ascending to the astral plane right here and now, and it’s that specific marshmallow.”

"And you’re just gonna cannibalise him?”

"Damn right.” Jisung puts it in whole, but doesn’t quite realise how a) sticky, and b) hot it is. Looking sincerely hilarious to Jeno, he starts choking a little and fanning his mouth at the same time. Eventually he swallows it, offering a weak thumbs up and a pained smile through watery eyes.

_____________________

They’re about half-way through the bag of marshmallows (which are firmly within Jisung’s grasp, the little gremlin) and Chenle, the only other one allowed to touch them, offers one to Jaemin, who declines.

“I’m alright, save some for tomorrow? I can’t be arsed setting off now, it’s late.” Wishing everyone goodnight, he heads back onto the boat. The two youngest decide to stay up a bit later, but both Jeno and Renjun soon follow and sleepily head to the cabin.

“Oh Renjun, I hadn’t told you yet.” Jeno fidgets, “Jaemin got his old bedsheets for you, I'll show you where."

With an arm on his shoulder, he ushers him down the hallway and into a room. "Well, goodnight!” he swiftly shuts the door behind him, and the sound of footsteps quickly fades. _What was all that about? Weird._

He turns around to quite possibly the worst sight he’d ever seen in his 23 years on this planet. Right there, covering the bed: Robbie Rotten bedsheets. Goddamn Lazytown-themed bed covers. So that’s why Jeno was so awkward... _This is fucking eldritch. What hellscape have I fallen into?_ The more he looks at the bedspread, the further into his soul he stares. Renjun edges to the left to try and avoid his gaze but it’s unfaltering, Robbie's eyes follow him around the room. _I fucking hate it here._

 ___ ____________________

The next morning, Renjun wakes up the most uncomfortable he’s ever been: encased in the abominable bedspread that Jaemin, the bastard, ever so kindly gave him. How joyous. Like yesterday, when he joins the boys on deck he’s the last one up again - let’s just say Renjun isn’t a morning person. It appears they’re not up to much though, because as soon as he exits the cabin, he sees Jaemin grinning at him.

“How was your night with Robbie?”

“I hated every fucking second of it.” At this, Min snickers to himself, clearly very satisfied with the way his life is going. Chenle and Jeno, however, both offer a more pitying smile to the unimpressed Renjun.

“Yo, Lazytown was an integral part of my childhood, how dare you insult it?” says Jisung.

“I raised you well, Sungie!” _Chenle was right, Jaemin really does act like a mother. He can’t be that much older than the sixteen-year old, right?_ “God, spiritually, I _am_ Robbie Rotten...”

A loud, unrestrained laugh comes from Jeno. “You wish. I’m Robbie, you’re actually just Sportacus,”

“Ew, not Sportacus, he was kind of a creep.” A particularly sour expression comes across the pink-haired boy’s face.

“Fine then, you’re Stephanie.”

“That’s even worse. Either way, you’re not Robbie though, honey.” _Those two really do bicker about anything and everything, huh? Just like an old married couple._

“That’s _exactly_ what Stephanie would say. You’ve got the hair and everything.”

“Bitch, please. First of all, Robbie Rotten is an interesting, three-dimensional character that makes an excellent captain _even though_ he literally had no prior experience helming an entire pirate ship and crew. Isn’t that exactly me? Second of all, fuck you, I’m the captain and I have the hat. If I say I’m Robbie, then I’m Robbie.”

“You know that’s not what being captain actually means? Pirates _hated_ authority, man.”

There’s a pause.

“Ohhh, I get it now.” Jaemin snaps out of his rant and a self-satisfied smile spreads across his face. “I know how this works. You’re-” he emphasises this by poking Jeno’s nose, “just jealous because you don’t have the hat. You resent my leading abilities, you want to wear this shining crown atop your own head but you _can’t._ You’re not ready for this responsibility, darling.”

Externally, Jeno just stares at his increasingly gleeful partner. But Renjun can practically _hear_ the cogs turning in his head. _Jeno, no, don’t involve yourself in this dumb shit. You’re smart, you can do better than feeding this weird captain persona of his…_

Ever so quietly, Jeno whispers, “I want that damn hat.” Renjun facepalms. _There’s no hope for these people. Officially. What the hell kinda mind manipulation does Jaemin have? Is it because he’s pretty? It’s probably because he’s pretty._

Looking more like a cartoon villain by the second, with a grin he mockingly says back, “I fuckin’ told ya. Prize it off my cold, dead corpse.”

___________________

It didn’t take long for the entire bag of marshmallows to go at all, after the second day. In typical fashion, a certain few crew members - namely Jisung and Jaemin - ate perhaps a few too many in a competition of theirs. It goes without saying that Renjun and Jeno did advise them to, y’know, _not_ do that but were they really ever going to listen? Of course not. After the event, Jisung simply laid down, questioning his life choices. But Jaemin, naturally, is _still_ complaining about his stomach at every opportunity. When he doesn’t get sympathy from even “his Jeno dearest,” as he put it in a sulky plea for attention, he resorts to actually starting a conversation.

“So, do you guys wanna set off, or like what?”

Jisung, who’s currently reclined at an angle Renjun isn’t so sure is good for his back, responds with, “I don’t care, man. I’m like 70% marshmallow right now.”

“Mood.” Lethargically getting up, Jaemin stretches himself out like a cat. “I don’t think we need to be anywhere, right? Jeno, where actually are we right now?”

“We’re about a week’s sailing away from Valencia, I think.”

Excitedly, Chenle asks, “Isn’t Doyoung in Valencia right now? We could go see him!”

 _Wait, who?_ Renjun wonders. Chenle pauses for a second, looks at him and explains, “Doyoung is like, our cool wine aunt. He’s great.”

“Let’s do that. But we don’t need to hurry at all,” says Jeno.

“Lit. In that case, since we’re staying, I’m gonna go lie down over there and contemplate my attachment to the physical realm.”

“Don’t die of heatstroke!”

Deadpan, Jaemin says, “This is _my_ hot girl summer, Chenle. I’ll do what I like, okay?” and promptly disappears into the brush.

Rolling his eyes, Jeno starts rummaging around in one of the bags strewn around him. He produces a bottle of sun lotion and mutters under his breath, “I swear, if it wasn’t for me, he would have killed himself by now.” Quickly, he follows after Jaemin, only shooting a dirty look at Chenle when the boy coughs the word “whipped” rather conspicuously.

Renjun hasn’t really had a chance to talk to the youngest two on their own yet, so he’s grateful for the opportunity. Immediately, Chenle turns to him with a too-saccharine smile, and Jisung giggles. His stomach tightens slightly with nervousness. “..What?”

“Look, I know those two-” Chenle motions in the direction Jaemin and Jeno just went, “are like, the coupliest _ever,_ right?” The youngest boy nods in agreement, “It’s kinda disgusting.”

“And I also know that you, my good pal, have a major _thing_ for both of them-”

“Wait a minute,” Renjun splutters. “Am I really that obvious?”

“Oh no, you’re good bro,” Jisung says, “Chenle can just kinda sorta read minds and like, he shares everything with me. You officially have no secrets.”

_Excuse me? He’s joking, right?_

Chenle waves his hand dismissively. “Anyway, my point was, is that they’re actually poly.”

“Huh?”

“And they’re real gay for you,” Jisung says.

Chenle nods, “We’re gonna be your wingmen!”

“Oh no. Please, that is the last thing I need right now.” He’s not too sure he actually consented to any part of this conversation, but here he is.

“Trust us, we’ve got this.”

“And we have a plan for you! Just let us work our magic,” Chenle says as he wiggles his fingers. Satisfied with that vaguely ominous threat, he pulls out a pack of cards from his pocket and motions questioningly at Renjun, who declines his offer. He shrugs and starts dealing them out between himself and Jisung.

As much as he’s grown fond of the two youngest members of the crew, Renjun _really_ doesn’t think that it’s a good idea for them to help him with his romantic endeavours. In fact, he was planning on just admiring Jeno and Jaemin from afar, being awfully jealous anytime the two do anything in sync (which is a _lot_ , they must have known each other for a long time) and getting awkwardly hot whenever physical exercise is involved. He caught Jeno mid-way through a particularly sweaty workout one night, and he wished nothing more than to sink into the ground right then and there when he saw that he didn’t have a shirt on. _Seriously, Jeno is at the top of the list of people not to fight. He acts cute but damn, he would snap me in half…_

 _Wait._ There was a lot to take in from that conversation, the rather confused boy only processing some parts of it now - no doubt thanks to the lightning speed both Chenle and Jisung’s minds work at. _Did those two say they liked him? Oh fuck. Really?_ It makes him a little more giddy than he’d care to admit. _And what was that about reading minds? I mean, I’ve heard that faes exist but I’ve never actually met one._ _It would make a lot of sense,_ he thinks. And he really didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but he did overhear Jisung telling Jeno about his visions over the fire.

Faerie folk usually keep to themselves, rarely delving into the cities or towns where humans live. It’s not that they aren’t accepted in society, not at all, but they usually rather being a little closer to nature. Renjun’s late mother used to tell stories to him when he was young, he recalls in an odd flash of memory, all about the wacky and wonderful powers that some people were blessed with. Despite appearing perfectly humanoid, the faes have a very strong connection with the planet that usually leads them to life alone in forests or at sea, she had told him.

A pang of nostalgia makes him flinch. Renjun hadn’t really had the chance to come to terms with his memory loss, getting caught up in the chaos of everyday life aboard the S.S. Dream, but the reminder of his mother’s death stops him in his tracks. _Damn._ _Why can I remember how it felt to lose her, but nothing else? There’s a place I grew up in, a family I was raised by, memories I made. But they just aren’t there. I don’t know what my past is, I don’t know how I got here. I don’t even have a ‘home’ to return to. What am I doing?_ He feels dampness on his cheek. _And now I’m crying. Great._

Immediately, Chenle drops the cards he was holding, sensing something wrong. Looking over, he sees Renjun’s face downturned and pulls his chair over. Jisung quirks his head, but sees his friend and follows suit.

Chenle softly places a hand on his shoulder, prompting him out of his dark thoughts. Noticing the two boys’ concern, Renjun wipes his eyes and coughs awkwardly.

“Sorry,” he starts to make an excuse.

“No, don’t be.” Chenle comforts, “It’s okay to feel like that sometimes. It’s only natural to grieve.”

“Now, I can’t tell exactly what you’re thinking about, but I have a clear enough idea of when someone needs a hug.” Jisung says with a small, but reassuring smile. Despite his dislike of physical contact, he opens his arms to his friend, who takes up his offer.

“Thanks, Sungie. Chenle can fill you in later, if that’s okay?”

“No problem at all.”

God, he loves these guys. He’s a little overwhelmed with the sheer amount of warmth he’s been shown, from all of the crew. Renjun is so thankful he’s able to call them his friends. Brothers, even. The thought crosses his mind that if it came to it, he’d lay down his life for any of them, without even a moment’s hesitation. _It’s been a hell of a few weeks, huh._

Feeling a little better, he pulls out of the hug and faintly smiles at the two of them. “Thank you,” he repeats. He means it.

Jisung motions towards the bushes and says, “I think I’ll go get those two,” and scampers off.

“Um, Jun?” Chenle carefully asks, like he’s thinking about something, “Would you mind if I told Jeno about this later? It’s just that, I think he might be able to help.”

Trusting his judgement, he nods his assent. There’s a little pause, and Renjun would like to change the subject sooner rather than later, so he asks what’s been preying on his mind for some time. “So, uh-” he pauses, not quite knowing how to word it properly, “are you two, y’know, faes?”

“Oh, yeah we are.” he says particularly nonchalantly, unfazed by the topic change. “I can read minds if I focus. Don’t worry, it’s not perfect, but I pick up on things here and there.”

“And Jisung is a seer, right?”

“Exactly. Give him a year, and he’ll be one of the best!”

“I don’t doubt that in the slightest.”

 _Well that was an easy conversation._ He really shouldn’t have thought otherwise, Chenle’s one of the most open people he knows. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, those two being his wingmen. They might actually be helpful.

____________________

The crew decides to set off soon enough, and luckily Renjun doesn’t show any more symptoms of seasickness after his initial bout. It’s been a few weeks since they found him on that island, and he really feels like he fits in with his friends, and they seem to be happy enough having him aboard. Well, they haven’t thrown him off the boat yet, at least. Their antics have also helped distract him from his situation; there’s always something interesting happening between them that he’s better thinking off about. One of said things comes one night at about 3AM: a rather serious-looking Jeno waking Renjun up and motioning to follow him.

Renjun grumbles his way down the hall and meets Chenle and Jisung - no Jaemin, oddly - looking just as sleep-deprived as him, standing around one of the tables in the cabin. Jeno takes the head of the table and produces a sheet of paper from one of his pockets, spreading it out over the surface.

“Lads, we need to be quiet, okay? We can’t wake Nana up.” he meets each of their eyes, passion (and a little derangement) blazing in his. “I have a plan.”

Okay, now he’s interested. What could make the ever-so-calm Jeno as heated as this? And it seems a little weird that Jaemin isn’t involved, the two are practically attached by the hip.

He places his hands flat on the table. “Let’s topple the monarchy on this ship.”

Chenle and Jisung both cheer. _I mean, not what I was expecting, but I’m always up for a little anarchy. It’s about time for a revolution,_ Renjun nods to himself.

“Wait, I’m all for it,” Chenle says, “But like, what are we actually doing?”

The black-haired boy clears his throat, like he’s rehearsed a speech. “Well, I’ve been thinking for a little while, that our dear friend and self-appointed leader, Jaemin, has perhaps gotten... A little too big for his boots, you might say.”

“Damn right,” Jisung snickers.

“It’s not that he’s not fit for such a role, of course, he makes a great captain, but don’t you think he’s a little corrupt?”

“Get to the point, bro.”

“I will! So, Nana keeps his one symbol of power very close to him at all times, you’ll have noticed-”

“Wait a minute.” _Oh no, Jeno,_ Renjun thinks in disdain, as he realises what this whole malarkey is about. “Are you seriously going on about the hat? How did that even become a _thing?_ ” _How far will those two go to be petty to each other? They don’t ever actually argue though, just bicker, so I guess there’s that._

Jisung says, “It was from my Halloween costume when I was like 8. Jaemin found it rooting through my drawers before we left, and I guess he just got emotionally attached?”

“Shh! Like I was _going_ to say _,_ he keeps the hat on his bedside cabinet. My idea? A little bit of larceny.”

“And why would you know that, huh?” pipes Chenle, knowing something. “Is it because you-” Jeno promptly shoves a hand over his mouth while blushing profusely, effectively shutting the younger boy up.

Jisung scoffs, “You know none of us here are straight, it’s okay.”

“We don’t know that,” he says, releasing Chenle and motioning vaguely in Renjun’s direction.

Three sets of incredulous laughter ring out, and Jisung retorts, “Yeah we do, have you fuckin’ seen him?”

Chenle joins in, “Jeno, I caught him singing _Madonna_ to himself the other day. He’s one of us alright.”

“Excuse me,” the boy in question starts, “You don’t have to be queer to appreciate the absolute _icon_ that is Madonna.”

To that, Chenle just looks pointedly at Jeno. “See?” he just nods, conceding his earlier statement. “And besides, Jun, what really gives you away is your big fat crush on-”

“Don’t you dare!” Yet again, Chenle finds himself being half-suffocated, this time by Renjun. Looking over to his left, he sees the youngest boy grinning from ear to ear, to which he shoots a fierce glare. “Jisung?”

Feigning innocence, he hums surprisedly.

“You may be cute, but I will not hesitate to two-foot you off the side of this boat if I need to.”

With a snort, he raises his hands in surrender. “That’s fair.”

Turns out, Chenle and Jisung do _not_ make the best wingmen, and he may or may not have been wrong about them helping. Every now and again the two youngest come out with something that really impresses him with their maturity, but as soon as he starts thinking that, they go and do something _really_ dumb to counteract it. _Congrats boys, you really are something._

The door opens and in wobbles Jaemin, rubbing his eyes. “The _fuck_ are you lot doing at this time of night?” Whistling to themselves and not looking suspicious at all, none of the crew meet his glare. He shrugs and curtly says, “Go to sleep.”

So much for their plan.

___________________

One night, Renjun can’t sleep. Instead of tossing and turning until dawn, he makes the decision to relax in the open air for a while. He opens the door to the deck, admiring the tranquil view. It’s a hot night, and the slight breeze that brushes against his skin is welcome. The sky is dark but clear, allowing him to see the bright constellations; he can’t name any, unfortunately. They’re pretty, though. Peacefully, the waves lap against the sides of the boat in a soothing, regular rhythm, and he entertains the thought of just bringing his pillow outside. To his surprise, as he walks onto the deck he finds Jeno and Jaemin reclining and quietly talking, who motion for him to join them as soon as they see him, and shuffle apart to make room.

“What’s up?” he offers as he lays down between them, gazing up into the cloudless sky. It’s surprisingly quiet, contrary to the usual loud nature of his crewmates.

“We couldn’t sleep. You too?” asks Jaemin, to which he nods his head.

“We were just talking about you, actually.”

 _Well isn’t that awfully ominous, Jeno? I’m not even sure I want to know why._ He’s not too sure what goes on in that man’s head sometimes. Humming slightly, he motions for him to elaborate.

“I had a chat with Chenle the other night-”

“Don’t worry, we won’t make you talk about it,” Jaemin takes his hand and interlaces their fingers when he feels Renjun tense slightly beside him, who returns a thankful smile.

“Of course, I just think I know what it means. You know how we’re not exactly human right?”

“Wait, you two aren’t either?”

Jaemin helpfully supplies with a grin, “Nope.”

Damn, he should have guessed. Considering they haven’t severely injured and/or killed anyone yet, they definitely have magic on their side. Chenle and Jisung’s abilities were always quite obvious, but those two? He wonders what sort of powers they have.

Seeing him in thought, Jeno giggles. “More on that later,” he waves dismissively. “It’s just, I remember Doyoung telling me that he went through something exactly like this. I think Taeyong found him?” Jaemin nods. “Yeah. Couldn’t remember a thing about himself, but the two made friends real quick. Apparently they talked to Kun about it and he said it’s pretty common, some people can just remember their past lives.”

“...Like reincarnation?” Now he’s confused, somehow more so than he was before. That’s certainly an interesting concept, though.

Jaemin nods his head, “Yeah! Doyoung doesn’t talk about it much, but I’m sure he will when we go over to his.”

“If you want to come, of course. We just kinda assumed, sorry.”

God, he’s constantly blown away with the warmth his crewmates show him. They took care of him, without question, when he was unceremoniously dropped into their lives. With open arms, they all accepted him into their dynamic and damn, if he isn’t grateful to fate that this is the way his life is going. It’s making him a little emotional, though he wouldn’t admit it. And they have the audacity to be _this_ considerate of what he wants?

“As long as it's with you guys, I’d go anywhere.” he mutters. The two smile softly at this admission. Renjun continues, “Thank you, for being so kind. You never even asked where I came from.”

“And neither did you, so thanks.”

“Well to be fair, that’s how we found Chenle,” says Jaemin, to which Jeno nods his head in confirmation.

“Wait, what? Was it for the same reason as me?”

“Oh no, the dumbass was just trying to learn how to swim,” An amused snort comes from Renjun. Now _that’s_ more like his friend. “Needless to say Jeno gave him lessons real quickly.”

Jeno lightly prods the Chinese boy in his shoulder, “Which reminds me, did you want to know about our powers? I kinda feel like I’m just talking at you, though.”

“I’d listen to literally anything you wanted to say, trust me.” Shifting slightly, he crosses one of his ankles over Jeno’s. God, he’s feeling real soft today, isn’t he? Not usually one for words, Renjun feels a little awkward. But damn, if Jeno’s shy smile doesn’t make the slight embarrassment worth it.

“Well,” he begins quietly, “We’re both nymphs, and probably a lot older than you think. Nana’s element is fire, mine is water.”

“And he’s the best damn waterbender I’ve ever seen.” The black-haired boy starts to deny it, but Jaemin isn’t having it. “He’s literally the only reason we haven’t gotten lost yet. For example, how many days from Valencia are we now?”

Slightly uncomfortable with the praise, Jeno looks away from the two of them, mumbling a number under his breath. Jaemin rolls his eyes and flops his body over Renjun’s, squirreling a hand between the two and tickling Jeno’s waist, to which he squirms violently.

 _Ticklish, huh?_ A wicked grin appears on his face as he decides to take a mental note of that vital information. Renjun kneels and grabs the shoulders of the poor boy, whose laughs are getting more and more pained with each second that Jaemin continues his assault. Of course, neither of them are a match for Jeno’s strength, so he breaks free. Rolling away from his assailants, his legs come up into a defensive position and he fiercely glares at the two of them. Well, that’s what he would have liked, but considering both Renjun and Jaemin’s incredulous giggling, it appears he hasn’t quite achieved the level of intimidation he wanted. Despite this, the pink-haired boy puts his hands up in surrender and flops back onto the deck. The other two follow suit and a comfortable silence washes over them, panting as they get back their breath.

For a while the trio just breathe, basking in the pleasantly warm air. _It’s nice,_ Renjun thinks. _This feels like home. The smell of salt, the waves, but most importantly, his companions._ And he’s sure they would still, no matter where they go.

Eventually, Jaemin sits up and asks, “Can I just say something, Jun?”

Gazing up at the pink-haired boy, he nods.

“No matter what happens, I want you to promise us, both of us-” he motions to himself and Jeno, “-something important.”

“Anything.” He means it.

“Stay?”

A smile spreads across his face. “If you insist.”

___________________

** Epilogue: **

“So, you guys mentioned a lot of names. Will I meet them all, or just Doyoung?”

The two laugh, but he’s not sure why. “Good question,” says Jaemin. “We really need to introduce you to the gang. If you think _we’re_ chaotic? Then well...”

Jeno fills him in. “Long story short: when we’re all together, there’s 22 of us. We share one building in Seoul.”

“Holy shit, okay.”

“I know, right. A lot of us are usually out and about, since our type don’t really like to live in cities full-time, but I’m sure they would come just to meet you.”

“Wait,” Jaemin pauses and thinks, “Jen, do you think Winwin has gotten good enough to teleport us all to one place?”

“Of course, just tell him that Jun is Chinese and we’ll be there last Tuesday.”

Jaemin laughs at his joke, “Teleportation _and_ time travel? The power of China Line!”

“But anyway, Doyoung is probably by himself, so we’ll go see him before making any further plans. That sound good?”

“Great.”

“You’ll like him, I promise. He’s like you, but sassier.”

“Sassier? I feel like that’s a challenge.”

“Oh no,” Jaemin groans. “I’m regretting our decision already.”

**Author's Note:**

> ok that was literally the longest thing i've ever written. by like 6k words.  
> this whole thing is kinda inspired by Like Real People Do by hozier, specifically the line "i will not ask you where you came from, i will not ask and neither should you". my brain really went OFF with that tho
> 
> some things you may or may not have picked up on:  
> 1) its not that jisung doesnt like physical contact, he just likes it on his terms. which is why hes fine w offering a hug to renjun. he did get a little overwhelmed tho which is why he left so abruptly. a neurodivergent character? in my fic?? its more likely than you think  
> 2) more details abt their powers!  
> jeno: water nymph/bender, can control water and always knows where he is bc of Ocean Vibes idk man.  
> jaemin: fire nymph! which was why he was so hype to toast marshmallows, being away from fire for such a long time can get him a little exciteable. both him and jeno are older than you'd expect too. yes, i picked fire bc it contrasts with water what of it  
> chenle: mind reader but he's pretty young so it isn't perfect. he can't hear full phrases, more like Auras or certain words. it feels kinda like very slowly learning a new language to him.  
> jisung: he's a seer but like chenle, he's only baby so he hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. most of his visions are either really mundane or completely unintelligible. but give him time!  
> renjun: this one is a little more open to interpretation, but he basically experiences reincarnation. he remembers basic information but his actual experiences are kinda muddled; he can only recall extremely strong emotions. like his mother.  
> 3) renjun as the narrator goes from being kinda sardonic when he refers to dream, like the 'so-called crew' or 'captain' but as time goes on he starts actually saying theyre his crewmates etc. and if THAT aint character development  
> 4) this is dumb but the only time jeno reprimands jisung for swearing is when its in front of jaemin, idk that just gives me "not in front of your mother" vibes
> 
> thank you sm to everyone reading <3


End file.
